Haloed Wings

It was the first snowfall of the season, making Evangelina extremely excited. It was one of the few things on earth that she enjoyed immensely. When she had been younger and lived in the heavens, she had watched the snow fall from above, wishing with a heavy heart that she could go and play in it. The ice was tempting as well. Which was why, when Evangelina first came onto earth, she learned to ice skate. Now that was one of her secret pleasures. Every year, on the first snow fall, since it was cool enough to freeze water completely, she would go out and do her ritual ice skating.

A smile formed onto her lips, wide and unfaltering. Zooming into her bedroom, Mistle right on her heels, she grabbed the small box that held her most prized possessions. Inside were a pristine pair of white skates. The blade was sharp as ever, for she sharpened it every time she skated. She gingerly took them out of their box, admiring the beauty of them. Yes, she knew that before, she had said she wasn't materialistic. However, this was different. It was a deep liking for something she loved to do. Ice skating was one of the things that made her forget everything in the world. The death of her parents, the stalker she constantly felt watching her, Gabriel leaving. If she did not get this pleasure each and every year, she felt that she would surely rot from the inside out with grief.

The smile grew wider as she stepped outside. Not wanting to wait, she simply disappeared off of her porch and appeared right near the pond she had skated on since she was ten years old. Tapping her bladed foot against the ice, she made sure that it was sturdy enough to hold her weight before descending onto the unscathed ice.

She started out slow, taking familiar strokes that made her once again familiar with the concept of skating. After all, she hadn't done this since last winter. Almost a year ago, but not quite. Once she gained her footing and became more confident, the movements became faster, more precise. Without a second thought, she pushed off with her right foot and hopped into the air, twirling her body in a three-sixty before landing perfectly. Hair blew past her shoulder, into the breeze that blew falling snowflakes around. She continued to do air revolutions, and then did a few twirls while on the ice.

An intense gaze bored into her the moment she bent down, running fingers along the ice as she flowed smoothly across the area. She stood quickly, arching her back and lifted her left leg into the air as she did another full revolution on the ice, bending the leg at the knee. She could care less about the eyes following her every movement at the moment. Let the person watch. Let them learn. She did not need to be aware of everything around her. Not always. Laughter pooled from her lips, smile wide. This was her secret pleasure. If it were a person, she would love him or her forever. This was one thing no one could ever take away from her, no matter what.

The fact that she was having too much fun to notice anything around herself blocked her ability to hear the ice cracking under her feet. She pushed off with her right leg, hopping up into the air, twirling in a circle, eyes closed as complete pleasure flowed through her body. When she landed, it wasn't perfect this time. The ice shattered under her skates, body falling forward. Her head hit the ice hard, momentarily dizzying her. When she came to, her body was halfway into the freezing water. A soft cry emitted from her lips when she realized that she had nothing to grab onto, nothing to save her from the water that would slowly take her under. Is it possible, for me to die this way? she wondered when her body continued falling, slipping, into the water.

Vaguely, she caught herself wondering where her savior was now? If Gabriel had truly been her savior, he would have been here by now, pulling her away. But no. As a child, he had said that angels could not lie. But was that the truth? Was it really? Because she felt that he lied to her an awful lot.

Reaching out once again, she used her nails to grip the ice and try to pull herself up, only to gasp in pain when her chin came slamming down on the edge of the ice. Clearly Fate had other plans for her today. The metallic taste of blood touched the tip of her tongue. When her head hit the water did she finally start noticeably shivering; her body shook with violent tremors, teeth chattering against each other loudly. Fearful tears filled her eyes then, making them sting. Was this how it was supposed to end?

Eyes grew heavy, her body only growing colder. Arms became limp, unable to hold on any longer. Her body slipped, going fully under before fingers laced themselves between hers, pulling. Another hand wrapped around her upper arm, pulling as well before the other one lost its grip on her slippery hand. Her body was halfway out of the water when the hand holding hers released. A soft tapping was felt against her cheek, a deep voice sounding in her ears. But she couldn't place the words. It all felt impossible at that moment.

“Evangelina,” the voice finally growled, getting through to her foggy head.

She barely opened her eyes, peeking through thin slits. The man looking down on her chose that moment to pull her fully out of the water. Her body landed in the man's arms, ice cracking even more when he jumped off of it, landing in the inches of snow under them.

The man held her tightly against his body, hoping to keep her warm, when he bent his head next to her ear, “Can you use your magic, little angel?”

Magic? Oh... this is that guy. She felt him start walking, a soft shake of her head telling him the answer he was waiting for. She heard him curse. That was when she finally let sleep overtake her body.



Eyes opened slowly, squinting against the bright sunlight pooling in her window. Wait. Window? She shot up, looking around. She was in her bedroom, laying on her bed. But wait, hadn't she been skating before? Why could she not remember... Oh. That's right. I had fallen through the ice, that man from Domino's saving my life.

“I see that you're awake, Angel,” the man spoke, revealing himself in the corner of her room. A small smirk appeared on those kissable looking lips of his. “You gave everyone quite a scare, you know. Actually, you gave me a scare. There was no one else around.”

“Who are you?” she whispered, shocked at the sincerity of his tone. “How did you know where I was?”

He stood up from the chair he had been sitting in and walked slowly, gracefully, toward her, stopped a few inches from the bed, looking down on her. “I've been watching you.”

“Watching me? That would make you a stalker.” Brows furrowing, she glared up at him, confusion flowing through her on why he would do such a thing.

The confusion must have showed because he shrugged. The man stepped closer and bent down to her level, his face only mere inches from hers. “I don't see you doing anything about it.”

“And why should I?” she replied defiantly, shocking the hell out of him. “I don't see you doing any harm to me. After all, you saved my life. So why would I do anything about you watching me, keeping an eye out for my safety?”

Her explanation forced him to take a step back. “You have clearly misunderstood my actions. I am not trying to keep you safe. Not at all. I was only passing by when you fell into the water. I felt that it was my obligation as a citizen to help you.”

Her eyes scanned his face, annoyance clouding her features. “You know, I really hate liars.”

“Oh, I'm lying now? How would you know? You do not even know me.”

She rose from the bed then, moving until she was practically chest-to-chest with him. Since he was a few inches taller, she had to glare up at him. “Then why were you standing outside of my window, watching me? You erased my mind of that moment. I know that for a fact, because how else would I forget? How did you know exactly where I lived? And why on earth were you at the same place I was, in the middle of nowhere, while I was skating on ice?”

Shock registered on his face then, proving her right. “Why, because I saw you having an angry conversation with someone else and figured that I would watch to make sure you were okay. If you needed help, I would have called nine-one-one. I never erased your mind; that's impossible. You fell asleep, which is probably why you forgot. This is also why I knew where you lived. And I was not spying on you, I did not follow you. I usually go through that area when I go on my daily walk. It's normal, actually.”

“Bull!” she suddenly exploded, once again shocking him. “How long have you lived in this town, exactly, and gone on a daily walk through there?”

“Many years now.”

“Then you are, for a fact, lying to my face. I go there every winter to ice skate and have never once seen you walk by! Stop lying and tell me the real reason, dammit!”

“I don't know!” he growled, shoving his hands into his hair, pulling on a few strands. “Nothing makes sense anymore, Evangelina. I feel this weird connection to you, okay? I feel as if I have to protect you from every little thing that happens. That is why I am watching you.”

She was silent for a moment, digesting his words. It was strange. Why would some stranger feel a strong need to protect her, to be around her at every moment of the day? “I see.”

“Do you? Do you really?”

“Yeah, I do.” Her eyes locked onto his. “Tell me, how do you know my name?”

“It is hard not to when every person around talks about the goddess that walks on earth.”

A slow blush crawled onto her cheeks. That was surprising most of all. She never blushed. Not even around someone who she thought was incredibly sexy (not that this guy wasn't). And especially not when someone gave her a compliment. That was so natural nowadays that she actually ignored it. It was slightly annoying.

His eyes moved then, locking onto her lips, before rising back up to her eyes. Without warning, he moved forward, dipping his head, and pressed his lips against hers.

Arms immediately came up to wrap around his neck as she eagerly accepted his kiss. Tilting her head to the side, she deepened the kiss, parting her lips. Her tongue snaked out to gently trace against his bottom lip, a low groan vibrating his throat. His hands moved to her hips, holding them tightly in his arms, his own tongue tentatively touching against hers before he took full control of the kiss.

A few moments later, her hands moved to his chest, gently pushing him back. He got the hint and backed off, taking in her flushed cheeks and energetic looking response. “What's your name?” she whispered huskily.

“Phoenix.”

Her eyes found his once again, locking as she said, “It was nice meeting you, Phoenix.”

His name sounded sexy coming from her lips, he realized. “I'll see you around, Evangelina.” Then he disappeared.